Birpai Country at Oxley Beach Port Macquarie

Birpai Traditional Custodians & Oxley Beach | Cultural Authority and Country 

Listening to and Respecting Birpai Voices

Oxley Beach forms part of the traditional Country of the Birpai People, whose connection to the Port Macquarie coastline extends back tens of thousands of years.

For the Birpai, Country is not simply a physical place. It is a living relationship involving culture, family, history, responsibility, knowledge and an ongoing obligation to care for land and sea.

That is why decisions about the future of Oxley Beach should include meaningful consideration of Birpai Traditional Owner voices and cultural authority.

Protect Oxley Beach recognises that decisions affecting Country should be informed by the people who have cared for it for generations.

Throughout our campaign, we have worked to listen to and engage with Birpai Traditional Owners, Elders and Aboriginal community members, with the aim of ensuring their perspectives, concerns and cultural knowledge are heard and respected during the planning process.

Protect Oxley Beach does not speak on behalf of Birpai people.

Rather, we believe our role is to ensure that decision-makers understand the importance of genuine Aboriginal engagement and that the diversity of Birpai perspectives is not overlooked.

An Enduring Connection to Country

Oxley Beach is part of the traditional Country of the Birpai People.

For countless generations, this coastline has provided places for gathering, food collection, cultural practice, teaching and caring for Country.

That connection continues today.

Oxley Beach is not simply a place of historical Aboriginal significance. It remains part of a living cultural landscape, where family connections, cultural responsibilities and obligations to care for Country continue to be carried forward.

This distinction is important.

When considering the future of a culturally significant place, Aboriginal heritage should not be treated solely as something belonging to the past. Living cultural knowledge and contemporary Traditional Owner perspectives remain relevant to decisions affecting Country today.

Why Traditional Owner Consultation Matters

Traditional Owner engagement should be more than a procedural step in a planning process.

Where a proposed development may affect Country with cultural significance, meaningful engagement requires listening, respect and recognition of cultural authority.

It also requires an understanding that Aboriginal communities are not necessarily represented by a single voice.

Birpai people include Traditional Owners, Elders, families and knowledge holders with different experiences, responsibilities and perspectives.

Protect Oxley Beach believes these voices should have meaningful opportunities to participate in decisions affecting culturally significant places.

Cultural knowledge should be considered alongside environmental, planning, engineering and other technical information when assessing proposals that may permanently change Country.

The Original Site Selection and Claimed Traditional Owner Support

One of the principal reasons advanced for selecting Oxley Beach as the preferred location for the proposed Port Macquarie Ocean Pool was that it was presented as the only site approved by Birpai Traditional Owners and the Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council.

The Ocean Pool Committee identified this claimed support as an important factor in preferring Oxley Beach over alternative locations, alongside considerations including heritage impacts and overall site suitability.

However, the consultation process that informed this position involved a limited number of representatives, including one Traditional Owner group and the Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council.

While these organisations have important roles, they do not necessarily represent every Birpai Traditional Owner, Elder, family or cultural knowledge holder.

Many Traditional Owners have subsequently stated that they were not consulted during the original site selection process and that the consultation undertaken did not reflect the diversity of cultural perspectives within the Birpai People.

This raises an important question:

Can a culturally significant site be considered to have broad Birpai Traditional Owner support when significant parts of the Birpai Traditional Custodians say they were not consulted?

We believe this question deserves careful consideration.

Birpai Traditional Owners Positions Have Changed

The circumstances surrounding the proposed Oxley Beach Ocean Pool have also changed since the original site selection process.

The Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council has formally withdrawn its earlier provisional support, while Birpai Traditional Owners have expressed opposition to the proposal through petitions presented to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and the New South Wales Government.

Traditional Owners have also publicly raised concerns about potential impacts on Country, cultural heritage and the consultation and decision-making process.

These developments demonstrate that Traditional Owner support for the proposal cannot simply be treated as settled.

There is clear evidence of opposition from Birpai people who are seeking greater recognition of their cultural concerns and participation in decisions affecting Oxley Beach.

For Protect Oxley Beach, this makes genuine and ongoing Aboriginal engagement even more important.

Aboriginal Rights and Interests Remain Unresolved

There are also legal processes concerning Aboriginal rights and interests in the area that remain unresolved.

A Federal Court non-claimant Native Title application affecting the proposal area remains before the Court and has not yet been determined.

An Aboriginal Land Claim over part of the proposal area is also yet to be determined.

These are separate legal processes concerning Aboriginal rights and interests in land.

Until those processes are resolved, important questions regarding the status and future management of the affected land remain outstanding.

Protect Oxley Beach believes these matters should be properly considered before irreversible development is contemplated.

Cultural Authority Is Living and Ongoing

Meaningful Traditional Owner consultation cannot be reduced to a single meeting or consultation process undertaken at the beginning of a project.

Cultural authority is living.

It is connected to families, Elders, knowledge holders, Country and responsibilities that continue across generations.

For this reason, engagement should be ongoing throughout planning and decision-making.

Where new information emerges, where community perspectives change or where previously unheard voices come forward, those perspectives should be given genuine consideration.

A planning process that affects Country should have the flexibility and willingness to listen throughout the process—not simply record consultation as something that happened in the past.

A Statement from Birpai Elder Dr Aunty Rhonda Radley

Protect Oxley Beach has been given permission to share the following statement from Birpai Elder Dr Aunty Rhonda Radley:

“Sacred places are stories, connections and obligations to care for Country. This place now known as Oxley Beach has sacredness, significance and history for the Birpai People and locals of this area. This beautiful natural landscape and stories belong to our children's children, future generations. Say no to the Oxley Beach proposal.”

The statement highlights the continuing cultural relationship between Birpai People and Oxley Beach and expresses a strong desire to protect the natural landscape for future generations.

It also reinforces an important principle: places of cultural significance are not simply locations on a map.

They can carry stories, responsibilities, memories, identity and obligations that extend across generations.

Respecting Country Means Listening

For Protect Oxley Beach, respecting Country means recognising the importance of listening to Traditional Owners.

It means acknowledging that Aboriginal cultural authority is living, diverse and enduring.

It means ensuring that Aboriginal voices are not treated as a historical consideration, but as an essential part of contemporary decision-making about Country.

And it means recognising that consultation should be genuine, ongoing and capable of influencing decisions.

We believe these principles should apply to any significant development affecting Oxley Beach.

Our Position on Birpai Cultural Authority and Oxley Beach

Protect Oxley Beach believes planning decisions affecting culturally significant places should proceed only after:

• genuine and respectful engagement with Traditional Owners

• meaningful consideration of the diversity of Birpai perspectives

• ongoing consultation throughout the planning and decision-making process

• proper consideration of Aboriginal cultural knowledge

• recognition of living cultural authority

• resolution of relevant Aboriginal land rights and Native Title processes

• transparent consideration of cultural heritage alongside environmental, planning and engineering matters.

We do not claim to speak for Birpai People.

We do believe, however, that Birpai Traditional Owners voices must be heard directly when decisions are being made about Country.

Protecting Oxley Beach for Future Generations

The future of Oxley Beach is about more than a proposed development.

It is about how we value Country, cultural heritage, natural landscapes and the voices of the people who have maintained an enduring relationship with this coastline.

Oxley Beach is part of a living cultural landscape.

Its significance does not end with the stories of the past. It continues through contemporary Birpai People, Birpai Elders and Birpai Traditional Owners through their ongoing responsibilities to Country.

Protecting that significance requires respect, patience, genuine engagement and a willingness to listen.

For Protect Oxley Beach, the principle is simple:

Decisions about Country should be made with respect for Country—and with the voices of Birpai Traditional Owners at the centre of the conversation.

The cultural significance of Oxley Beach belongs not only to the present generation, but to future generations as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the Traditional Owners of Oxley Beach?

• Oxley Beach forms part of the traditional Country of the Birpai People, the Original Custodians of the Greater Port Macquarie region.

Why is Oxley Beach culturally significant to the Birpai People?

• Oxley Beach forms part of a broader Birpai People cultural landscape with a longstanding connection to Country, including cultural practice, gathering, food collection, teaching, family connections and responsibilities to care for land and sea.

Does Protect Oxley Beach speak for the Birpai People?

• No. Protect Oxley Beach does not claim to speak on behalf of Birpai People. The organisation's position is that Birpai Traditional Owners, Birpai Elders and Birpai Traditional Owners should be directly and meaningfully involved in decisions affecting their Country.

Why is Traditional Owner consultation important?

• Birpai Traditional Owners consultation helps ensure that cultural knowledge, heritage and contemporary Aboriginal perspectives are properly considered when decisions affect culturally significant places.

Is there Birpai Traditional Owners opposition to the proposed Oxley Beach Ocean Pool?

• The campaign states that a number of Birpai Traditional Owners have expressed opposition to the proposal and that petitions opposing it have been presented to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council and the NSW Government.

Why does cultural authority need to be ongoing?

• Cultural authority is living and can involve different families, Elders and knowledge holders. Meaningful engagement therefore needs to continue throughout planning and decision-making rather than being limited to an initial consultation process.

What Aboriginal land and Native Title matters affect the proposal?

• The campaign states that a Federal Court non-claimant Native Title application affecting the proposal area and an Aboriginal Land Claim over part of the area remain unresolved. These legal processes concern Aboriginal rights and interests in the land.